


Constant Interruptions

by Nutella_enthusiast



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, Nutella, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-15
Updated: 2013-05-15
Packaged: 2017-12-11 22:42:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/804067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nutella_enthusiast/pseuds/Nutella_enthusiast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The five times Liam and Niall almost kiss while in a kitchen, and get interrupted by Zayn. That’s literally all it is.<br/>Otherwise known as: 4770 words of pure sexual tension.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Constant Interruptions

**The First Time**

It was 11:58 AM on a Sunday, and no one else was there yet. Liam paced Niall’s flat nervously, clenching and unclenching his fists, checking and rechecking his watch. “Relax Li, they’ll be here,” chuckled Niall from his place on the couch. Liam wanted to relax, he really did, but it would hard enough for him to do that even if the only problem was that their interview started in just over an hour and he and Niall were the only ones there so far, but if you also considered how completely irresistibly cute Niall looked with one leg thrown up over the back of the couch and his head almost falling off the side, holding his phone out upside down in front of his face so he could read it - well, Liam was staying thoroughly un-relaxed.

“See, Zayn just texted me, they’ll be here in 5 minutes, said Niall, holding out his black iPhone so Liam could see the screen, which said it was from “Zaynie-poo,” above a green speech bubble that read, “We’ll be there in 5, just finishing my hair.”

Liam was about to nod to show he had read it, when a second and third text popped up in quick succession. They said, “put ur pants back on” and “i dont want to walk in on ur niam time ;)” Liam turned bright red and turned away, walking quickly to the kitchen, ignoring Niall’s calls of confusion, just knowing he had to get out of that room right then.

He leaned over the counter, breathing deeply, trying to calm himself. There was no way he could face Niall like that, all flustered, just because of some stupid text. If Niall started to suspect something, it could be potentially disatrous for the whole band, not to mention their friendship. Really, it was just some stupid crush, thought Liam, trying to convince himself that he wasn’t completely head over heels for his band-mate and best friend. It wasn’t working.

“Mate, are you okay?” asked Niall, placing one arm around him in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture but just put Liam even more on edge.

“Not really,” he sighed, looking down at his hands.

“What’s up?” asked Niall, pulling him closer, and placing a hand on his chin, pulling his face up so they were looking into each others eyes, their faces only a few inches apart. “You can tell me anything you know.”

“Niall, I-” Liam cut himself off. This was just a stupid crush, he told himself again, trying desperately to believe it. “Just a stupid crush.”

He didn’t realize he’d actually muttered that last bit to himself until Niall cocked an eyebrow at him. “What was that?”

Liam tried to pull back, to get out of this position that was just making him even more confused, the front of Niall’s right hip pushed against the side of his left one, but his lips seemed to have a mind of their own. Before he could stop himself, he leaned forward slightly, so his nose was almost touching Niall’s. “Niall,” he tried again, looking at his friend’s plump pink lips. Niall made no move to back up, which Liam took as a good sign. “I think I-” he was cut off again this time by the sound of the door flying open and three loud voices talking.

“Liam, we’re here!” shouted Zayn from the living room and Niall and Liam jumped away from each other in shock. “You can untwist your panties now!”

Liam cleared his throat, looking at Niall, who was blushing scarlet and determinedly looking at anything but Liam. Of course. Niall must have thought it was a mistake, and was glad nothing had really happened. Liam sighed and turned around, walking into the living room, Niall following close behind.

“My panties are thoroughly untwisted, Zayn!” he called, trying to push the almost kiss from his mind.

“Oh, so you’re wearing panties huh?” asked Zayn, actually winking at Liam. “I bet Niall loves that.”

Niall and Liam both blushed and looked away from each other, and Zayn chuckled at how clueless his friends were. How did they not realize how into each other they were? Even Harry had noticed, and he rarely paid attention to anything besides Louis.

“Right, well, we should go,” muttered Liam. “Interview in an hour and all that.” He turned and hurried out the door, not watching to make sure the others were following.

Niall waited to exit until last, locking Liam’s door behind them with his spare key. He pulled out his phone to look at his tweets one more time before they left and saw the messages that Zayn had sent him still pulled up on the screen. That must have been why Liam had fled to the kitchen. He must have been embarassed, horrified by the thought of them together, and that’s what he had been trying to say before Niall practically attacked him. He was such an idiot, he thought, thinking that Liam might actually want to kiss him.

~~~~~~~~

**The Second Time**

It was 2:19 pm on a Wednesday, and Liam was panicking. He was trying to make a cake for Harry’s birthday, but seeing as Harry was the only one of the boys who actually knew how to cook, it wasnt exactly going so well. He had called both Zayn and Louis and left slightly (translate:completely) panicked sounding voicemails, but neither of them had called back, and he had reached a state of such desperation that he was ready to call Niall to help him.

It wasnt that Liam didn’t want to see Niall, even after the confusion of the weekend before, but more that Niall being within 20 feet of a kitchen at any time almost always ended in disaster - it just so happened that last time the disaster had been their almost kiss, and not an explosion. Liam still had no idea what he was doing though, so he picked up the phone and called Niall.

“Hello?” came Niall’s voice through the speaker, accompanied by the sounds of chatter around him.

“Hey Ni. You busy?” asked Liam.

“What? Sorry, just a second.” There was a few moments of chatter and the sound of Niall shouting something that Liam couldnt make out before it was cut off by the sound of a door closing. “What’s up?”

“I was just wondering if you were busy. It’s sounds like you’re in the middle of something though.”

“No, I’m free,” said Niall. “Anything to get me out of this mess.”

“What’s going on?”

“I went to Nando’s to get lunch but some girls spotted me and then they called their friends and the only way I escaped the crowd of screaming girls was to tell them I had to go take a call from my mom.”

“Your mom?” asked Liam. “Why not just tell them it was me?”

Niall snorted. “Are you kidding? We both know that would just end with them mobbing the phone trying to talk to you and insisting that it’s clearly a sign that Niam is real.”

Liam blushed. “Er- if you say so,” he stammered out, trying to sound nonchalant. “Anyways, I was wondering if you’d come help me bake a cake for Harry’s birthday. I’m trying, but it’s not going so well.”

“I… I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Aww come on!” said Liam. “You haven’t burned down anyone’s kitchen in aaaages!”

Niall sighed and pretended that’s why he thought it was a bad idea - that it had nothing to do with the fact that he didn’t know if he could handle being in a kitchen with Liam yet again. “Come on Li, we both know that doesnt mean anything,” he said. “I’ve already been banned from Harry and Zayn’s kitchens, and the only reason I’m still allowed in Louis’ is because he’s as bad as I am.”

“Pleeeeease Nialler?” whined Liam. “I don’t have any idea what I’m doing!”

“Fiiiiine,” said Niall, knowing he couldn’t resist when Liam called him that, and resigning himself to an evening of awkward attempts at small talk and trying not to burn down Liam’s apartment building. “I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

~~~

Niall arrived at Liam’s flat 7 minutes later, the door opening almost immediately after he knocked to reveal a panicked looking Liam, with flour in his hair. “Oh thank god,” he said, pulling Niall inside and quickly shutting the door. “Help me.”

Niall laughed. “You say that like I know any more about this than you do.”

“Niall, I have never baked. Not even once when I was growing up. I have no idea why I thought it was a good idea to start now.”

“I guess I’ve baked once more than you have then, but I’m fairly sure it ended in fire, tears, and my girlfriend dumping me, so I can’t promise anything.”

Liam just barely managed to not flinch at the word girlfriend, but turned quickly back to the cookbook, smiled wiped off his face. “Right. Well it says we need 4 oz of baking chocolate, can you get that?”

“Where’s the baking chocolate?”

Liam froze. “Um… Is that different from regular chocolate?”

“You don’t know the difference between regular and baking chocolate?”

“Niall I told you I never bake!”

Niall laughed at the look of worry on Liam’s face. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out. Do you have any regular chocolate?”

Liam paused for a moment. “I think there’s Nutella on top of the fridge?” he said, as if it were a question.

“Liam, you do know you’re supposed to make sure you have chocolate before you start making a chocolate cake… Right?”

Liam blushed. “Just get the Nutella, would you?”

Niall laughed and pulled down the jar, unscrewing the lid and sticking his finger in it immediately, transferring it straight from the jar to his mouth. Liam froze, watching as he stuck out his tongue to catch a bit that was about to fall from his finger before putting his whole finger into his mouth, hollowing out his cheeks as he sucked on it.

Liam made a noise low in his throat, pupils dilating as he watched Niall close his eyes, before pulling the finger out of his mouth. “Want some?” asked Niall, completely oblivious to the effect he was having on Liam.

“That’s… Unsanitary,” choked Liam, trying not to think about Niall’s mouth sucking like that on other places.

Niall looked Liam directly in the eyes, and, without breaking eye contact, took a step forward, stuck his finger back into the jar, and then, before Liam could react, reached up and smeared Nutella across his right cheek.

Liam jumped back in shock, reaching his hand up to the chocolate on his face, and staring at his fingers for a moment before looking back at Niall. “You didn’t,” he said, his face blank.

Niall smirked. “I’m pretty sure I did.”

“Oh it’s on,” said Liam, smirking back, before turning around to the counter where the bag of flour was sitting and taking a handful of it. “I’ll make you rue the day you were born, leprechaun.” He took a few steps closer to Niall, reached up, and opened his hand, the handful of flour raining down over Niall’s hair. Niall gasped in mock horror and carefully screwed the lid back on the Nutella, placing it on the opposite counter.

It took almost half a bag of flour and several eggs before the two boys were done, sitting side by side on the floor with their faces pink, breath uneven and covered head to toe in flour, Liam’s shirt having disappeared sometime in the middle of their fight. “I think I won,” said Liam, flopping backwards so he was laying down on the cool tiled floor. Niall would never admit it, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t having any thoughts as to what else they could do, covered in food on the kitchen tiles. Those activities would require a lot less clothing though.

“You still have Nutella on your face,” said Niall, laying down next to his best friend. “Let me get that for you.” Before he could stop himself, he reached out and licked the Nutella off of Liam’s cheek, not pausing to think of the implications. He could feel Liam’s face heat up underneath his tongue, and he drew back quickly, watching as Liam’s face turned from light pink to magenta to scarlet in the space of about 3 seconds. “Waste not, want not, right?” said Niall, forcing a laugh and looking away.

“Niall…” whispered Liam, not really sure what else to say. “Niall, look at me.”

Niall turned his head back to find Liam slightly closer, still blushing, rolled onto his side so he was facing Niall. He reached out a hand and brushed Niall’s cheek with his thumb, pulling it back and sucking the Nutella off of it. “You had some too,” he said, not exactly sure why he was whispering, but feeling it was appropriate for the moment.

“Liam…” said Niall, drawing a little closer. “Can- can I-“

He was interrupted by the sound of the door being flung open, and Zayn’s voice, calling, “Liam? You can stop panicking now, Auntie Zayn is here to help!”

Liam sprung up so quickly Niall hadn’t even taken in what was happening until he was halfway across the kitchen. He pushed himself up onto his elbows as Liam hurried to the very opposite end of the kitchen, away from him, and realized he had assumed again. he had thought that just because Liam might flirt with him a little bit more than the other boys, and was willing to get in food fights with him and walk around shirtless, that just maybe Liam could feel the same way. But he didn’t, and he wouldn’t. Liam was straight and Niall was in love with him and there was nothing he could do.

“Jesus mate, what the hell happened to you?” he heard Zayn ask, as he walked into the kitchen, before turning and taking in the shirtless Liam, the flour covering every surface, and then eventually Niall, still sitting on the floor, still covered in flour, and still not entirely sure what had just happened.

“Oh,” said Zayn. “Well, it looks like you guys have it under control. I’ll just…” He moved, as if to leave, but Niall was faster.

“No, you two make the cake. I’m hopeless in the kitchen, and I forgot about that thing I have to do… I’ll see you later Liam. Zayn.”

And with that, Niall was gone, and Liam was throwing himself into Zayn’s chest, crying that he’d ruined everything. Zayn just sighed and rubbed Liam’s back comfortingly. When was that boy going to realize that Niall was just as stupid for him as he was for Niall?

~~~~~~~~

**The Third Time**

It was 1:19 AM on a Saturday, and Niall was smashed. It was Harry’s birthday party, and there was quite the party going on in his flat. Niall may have normally gotten drunk at parties, but this was not just drunk. Oh no, he was completely, staggeringly, word slurringly, out of his right mind drunk.

“Niall, come on, lets get you some water,” sighed Liam, dragging him into the kitchen.

“Yerr so niiiice LiLi,” slurred Niall, tripping over his feet as he held tight to the taller boy’s hand, his own hand slick with sweat. “Thass why I love you. Yerr jusss sooooo nice.”

“I love you too Niall,” Liam said, smiling as he helped Niall up onto the counter and picked up a red solo cup from beside the bottles of alcohol, filling it with water from the sink.

“No, Li, I like, proper love you,” said Niall, stopping his drunken giggling for a moment and looking at Liam seriously. Liam looked back at Niall, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing like a fish. Before he could say anything though, Niall was back to giggling, his eyes glazed over with the amount of alcohol he had consumed.

“Here, drink this,” he said, sighing and handing Niall the cup. He sunk down to the door and sat cross legged in front of the counter as Niall gulped the water noisily, a million thoughts flying through his head all at once. He knew that when Niall was drunk that he said things that he wouldn’t normally say when sober, but was he saying that because it was true, or because he was just feeling affectionate?

“Li?” asked Niall, breaking him out of his reverie.

“Yeah Ni?”

“Come up here with me. I’m lonely.”

Liam pulled himself up onto the counter beside him, and Niall nuzzled his head into Liam’s chest. “Yerr my best friend Leeyum,” he mumbled, putting his arms around him.

“You’re my best friend too, Nialler.”

“Liam?” he asked, pulling his head back to look up at his friend.

“Yeah?”

“Can I have more tequila now?”

Liam laughed. “No, Ni, you’ll already have a hangover tomorrow, lets not make it any worse.”

“Pleeeeease?” asked Niall, giving Liam his best puppy dog eyes.

“Why do you want to drink so much anyways?”

Niall sighed deeply and buried his face back into Liam’s chest, shaking his head. “I can’t tell you. Sober Niall would be mad at me.”

“Come on Niall, you can tell me. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

Niall leaned forward and lowered his voice seductively. “Why don’t I show you?”

“Wh-what?” asked Liam. Niall leaned forward, so his face was only a few inches from Liam’s, so close that Liam could smell the alcohol and something fruity on his breath.

Liam moved forward slightly as well, his tongue darting out instinctively to wet his lips, when they were interrupted by a loud bang. Liam sprung back and was met by the sight of Zayn, pressing a very pretty blonde girl up against the refrigerator, kissing her fiercely. He pulled back for a moment, noticed Niall and Liam sitting there, and let out a drunken giggle. “Oops,” he said, taking the girl’s hand and starting back towards the doorway. “Sorry ‘bout that. We’ll just leave you two lovebirds alone.”

With that, they were gone. “I should go,” said Niall, pushing himself off the counter. Liam hadn’t even fully taken in what had happened until Niall had crossed the kitchen and was gone, leaving Liam alone, the smell of tequila and an empty red solo cup the only proof he had ever been there at all. But Niall had definitely wanted to kiss him. And as Liam drifted off to sleep that night with a small smile on his face, that was the last thing on his mind. Niall had definitely wanted to kiss him.

~~~~~~~~

**The Fourth Time**

It was 10:46 AM on a Saturday, and Liam was waking up on an unfamiliar couch. It took a few moments for the events of the previous night to come back to him. He remembered tucking in a drunk Zayn and an even drunker Niall into Zayn's bed upstairs and then flopping onto the couch downstairs, too tired to even take off his jeans. He remembered before that, hailing a taxi and telling it to take them back to Zayn’s, because it was the closest, and he was not staying in the disaster zone that was Harry’s apartment with two drunken teenage boys (four, if you count Harry and Louis). He remembered even earlier, watching Niall angrily as he drank even more tequila and grinded on a pretty brunette girl on the dance floor, and he remembered even earlier, the third almost kiss of the week in the kitchen.

He sighed and rolled off the couch onto the carpeted floor belong with a thump and on “oof,” before getting up, pulling off the jeans that had been bothering him all night, and padding to the kitchen in his socks, tshirt and boxers to find something to make for breakfast.

He had put glasses of water and painkillers next to both Zayn and Niall’s sides of the bed, picked up the boys’ jeans from the floor and carefully folded them at the end of the bed, and was halfway through making a full fry-up when Niall came tiptoeing into the kitchen, socked feet quiet on the linoleum.

“Morning sleepyhead!” said Liam, smiling brightly at the Irish boy.

“Mgrrghrgrhh,” groaned Niall.

“How very eloquent of you,” said Liam, continuing to stir the scrambled eggs in the pan in front of him.

“It’s too early for big words,” grumbled Niall.

“Is it too early for bacon?” asked Liam, holding out a strip of it to the blonde.

“You are a god amongst men,” said Niall, taking it and shoving it into his mouth whole.

“That’s hot,” commented Liam sarcastically.

“Fuck off,” said Niall, but there was less of the angst from before in his tone. The bacon seemed to have satiated him for now.

“So, how are you feeling?” asked Liam, cracking another egg into the pan.

Niall snorted, and then clutched his head as if the very act of it had hurt him - which, considering how much tequila he had drunk the night before, it probably had. “How the fuck do you think I feel, Liam?”

“Does this mean next time you’ll stop drinking when I tell you to?”

“You told me to stop drinking?”

“Wow, you really don’t remember anything, do you?”

“No… Should I? Oh shit, did I do something stupid?”

Liam chuckled darkly, not really sure how to answer Niall’s question. “You did a lot of things last night Niall.”

“Fuck. Did I kiss…” he paused, as if stopping himself. “Someone?”

Liam sighed. “No, I don’t think so. Although you and that brunette girl were getting pretty friendly on the dance floor.”

“Shit…” muttered Niall, looking at the floor. “You probably think I’m a total slut now, don’t you?”

Liam laughed. “Of course not, you were drunk, it’s not your fault.”

Niall sighed. “I’m sorry, I’ve been such a mess lately. There’s just been a lot going on.”

Liam stepped forward and pulled him close, pressing a kiss to the top of Niall’s head. “It’s fine Ni. And, if you ever want to talk about… Anything, let me know, okay?”

Niall nodded and made a noise of assent into Liam’s chest, wrapping his arms tight around him.

“My head hurts so bad…” mumblred Niall. Liam chuckled and pulled back a little and leaned down, kissing his forehead gently.

“Better?” he asked.

“A little.”

Liam pressed his forehead to Niall’s so they were nose to nose. “Niall…”

“Please tell me that’s bacon I-” said Zayn, stopping talking when he reached the kitchen and saw Niall and Liam standing with their arms around each other. “Oh shit, sorry. I’ll give you guys a-“

Liam sighed and pulled away from Niall. “No, Z, don’t worry about it. I need to get back to the eggs anyways.”

Niall stood in the middle of the kitchen as Liam turned his back to him. Had Liam been about to do what he thought he was about to?

Zayn mentally slapped himself for interrupting his friends once again.

~~~~~~~~

**The Fifth Time**

It was 11:32 on a Saturday, and Liam was frustrated. It had been 2 weeks now since his and Niall’s last almost kiss, and every time they had gotten near each other since then someone had joined them or Niall had run off, leaving him no time to talk to the Irish boy. He had been feeling more and more hopeless each day, until finally he had almost given up.

But tonight was Ed’s surprise birthday party, and Liam had decided that if he was ever going to actually ask Niall about what happened, now would be as good a time as any. That was over two hours ago. Ever since then, every time he had gotten close to Niall at all someone had stepped in to talk to him. First Nick, asking if he’d seen Harry, then Louis, asking if he’d seen Harry, then Taylor, asking if (surprise, surprise) he’d seen Harry. By the time Ed stopped him on his fourth attempt, he was ready to explode.

“I haven’t seen Harry!” he snapped, before Ed could even open his mouth.

“I- I was just going to thank you for helping plan this for me, but if you’re looking for Harry, I think he’s out there dancing…” said Ed, pointing to the mass of people dancing in the middle of Louis’ living room.

Liam sighed. “Sorry mate, I’ve just had a lot going on lately. I’m kind of stressed.”

“You want to talk about it? I’ve been told I’m a very good listener.”

“Nah man, it’s your birthday, go have fun.”

“Liam, you’ll never get over it if you don’t talk about it, and I like helping.”

Liam chuckled. “How did you get so smart?”

“I talk to Harry a lot. Now come sit down and tell Uncle Eddy all about it,” he said, sitting down on the couch and patting the spot next to him.

“You and Zayn, I swear,” said Liam, sitting down and remembering the “auntie Zayn,” comment from a few weeks before.

“What?”

“Nevermind,” said Liam. “Now, just to let you know, this might take a while.”

“I’ve got plenty of time.”

So Liam sprang into the story, telling of his an Niall’s four almost kisses, Niall’s drunken confession, and the interruptions over the last 3 weeks.

“…so now I don’t know what to do,” he concluded, almost 10 minutes later. “I thought he liked me, but now it’s like he wants nothing to do with me.”

“Liam, he does like you, anyone with two eyes in their head could see that. But he’s scared. He can’t tell if you like him, because he’s just as unobservant as you are. He keeps thinking that you might, but as soon as something is about to happen, someone interrupts you, leaving him even more confused than he was before. All you need to do is show him that you care in the most obvious way you can.”

“And… And what’s that?”

Ed sighed. “Basically what I’m saying is that you need to go up to that oblivious little leprechaun and snog the living hell out of him.”

“Are you sure? What if he doesn’t kiss me back? What if I ruin everything? What if-“

“Liam,” said Ed, cutting him off and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Go. Now.”

Liam breathed in deeply and stood up, shaking his hands a little. “Right. Okay. I got this. Wait, but what if-“

“Now.”

Liam smiled. “Thanks Ed.”

He hurried off into the crowd and, in a stroke of luck, spotted Niall’s bright blonde quiff almost immediately.

“Niall,” he said, grabbing the blonde boy’s shoulder. Liam could tell he had already drunk a little by the look in his eyes, but nowhere near as much as he had the night of their almost kiss. “Can I talk to you?”

“Yeah, Li. What’s up?”

“Somewhere else?”

“Um, yeah, okay,” said Niall, following as Liam dragged him by the wrist into the nearby kitchen. He figured this was right - it started in Niall’s kitchen, then his, then Zayn’s, then Harry’s; it had to end in Louis’ then, didn’t it?

“Liam, what’s going on?”

Liam sighed. “Niall, look, I- fuck. I don’t really know how else to say it, so I’m just going to come out with it. I really -“

“Liam?” said Zayn, stepping into the kitchen. “I thought I saw you come in-“

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” growled Liam, before shoving Niall up against the wall and claiming the smaller boy’s lips with his own.

Niall let out a small squeak of surprise, before reciprocating eagerly, tangling his fingers through Liam’s hair and pulling him even closer. Liam let out a low moan in the back of his throat and grabbed tightly onto Niall’s hips, pulling his as close as he could without ever breaking contact between their mouths.

“I’ll, uh, just go then,” muttered Zayn, edging back towards the doorway.

Liam ran his tongue along Niall’s lower lip and Niall opened his mouth hungrily, tangling his tongue with Liam’s. It wasnt until they were both out of breath and beginning to feel a bit lightheaded that they broke apart.

“Took you long enough,” smirked Niall.

“It’s all Zayn’s fault.”

“Fucking Zayn,” said Niall, stretching up to kiss Liam again.

“Fucking Zayn indeed,” thought Liam, before all coherent thought was washed from his head by the taste of Niall’s tongue.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow this is the second story I've finished in a week, I'm so proud of myself.  
> Please go check out my other Niam story, movie night, and let me know what you thought of this one.  
> Also, if you want to request any other stories, just let me know in the comments and I might write it. (Warning: I'm more likely to write it if it's Niam, Larry or Zarry, but anything is possible!)


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